Press Room ::By the Numbers

The International Refugee Crisis by the Numbers

More than at any time in history, the world is witnessing an increase in forcibly displaced people — those driven from their homes and their countries by civil war, ethnic strife, and political oppression.

From the UN Refugee Agency’s 2010 Global Trends Report issued in June 2011:

Some 43.7 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2010, the highest number of people uprooted by conflict and persecution since the mid-1990s.
Those uprooted by conflict within their own country grew by 4 percent to 27.5 million, largely the result of persistent conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.
An estimated 25.2 million people — 10.55 million refugees and 14.7 million internally displaced persons — were receiving protection or assistance from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) at the end of 2010.
As many as 3.5 million stateless persons (people not considered citizens of any state under national laws) were living in 65 countries in 2010, according to UNHCR’s records. However, it is estimated that the total number of stateless people worldwide is much higher — about 12 million people.
Some 7.2 million refugees were living in a "protracted situation" (defined as a situation in which 25,000 or more refugees of the same nationality have been living in exile for 5 years or longer in any given asylum country) in 2010, the highest figure since 2001.
Refugees voluntarily returning to their home countries fell to its lowest level in 20 years — 197,600 in 2010 compared to the norm over the past decade of around one million a year.
Women and girls represented 49 percent of all refugees and asylum seekers.
Approximately 47 percent of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers are under 18.
Refugees aged 60 years and older comprised 5 percent of the overall population.

Press Room ::By the Numbers

The International Refugee Crisis by the Numbers

Facts & Figures